What Laptop?

[NoshowJones]

I am thinking of a new laptop, when I wanted a new desktop about four years ago, I asked here and was advised by several posters to

get one built to my specifics, I was advised to go to JCB. I did this and it was highly satisfactory.

 

I am now asking about a new laptop, cost up to around 30.000Bt, not Asus or Acer, I have not found them reliable.

I want good memory, at least 16GBs, a big screen, not smaller than about 15ins. what make for good reliability and where to buy?

 

Don't mind traveling to Bangkok if necessary.

[Morch]

I switched to Dell for the last couple of laptops. Neither top of the line model (they do have some fine ones, but unnecessary for intended use). Very sturdy machines, taking some travel abuse, and general neglect.  Not the slickest, but don't care about that. Dell service (at least in Bangkok) was a nice surprise. Got one from fortune tower, the other online, from InvadeIT. For whatever reason, many come with Linux rather than Windows (which could be misleading in terms of price).

[tutsiwarrior]

I bought a lenovo 'ideapad 700', i7, 8GB RAM, 1 terabyte, 15.5 inch screen about 15mos ago from InvadeIT and I'm I'm happy with it...Win10 Home was extra and with Office 2017 Home and Student around 33k baht...pedestrian usage, no games, etc...clunks right along...

 

I had an ASUS (purchased in saudi) before that and too many keyboard related probs...earlier I had an Acer (Vietnam) that gave good service for about 4 years even in harsh construction site office conditions, and it was cheap too...

 

 

Edited April 15, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[jenny2017]

God, please buy a DELL> Comes with a great warranty and it's best material and quality. 

 

    Are you sure that it's not MS Office version 2016? 

Edited April 15, 2018 by jenny2017

[Peterw42]

OP, with lots of laptops it is just branding, they all have identical common components hardrives, ram, video chips, ethernet and wifi etc. (open a dell and its probably got a Toshiba HD).  The same factory in China makes dell motherboards one week and Acer motherboards the next. All the name brands with a good warranty should be fine. The component and build quality is usually reflected in the price, dell or Toshiba cost more than acer etc because better components/specifications.

 

Laptops run Hot, its a lot of heat producing components in a compact space. A lot of the components are running at the top end of their specifications (processors and video) and eventually most laptops fail because of heat. I would avoid any of the 5mm thick designs, its more heat in a smaller space. Also avoid people who dont make laptops, LG, Sony etc , they are usually just re-branding a generic product.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Peterw42

[NutsMango]

5 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, with lots of laptops it is just branding, they all have identical common components hardrives, ram, video chips, ethernet and wifi etc. (open a dell and its probably got a Toshiba HD).  The same factory in China makes dell motherboards one week and Acer motherboards the next.

So what? Most of the CPU, memory etc used in phones are the same as well, but there are massive difference between final products. The design, quality control, used materials and service etc.

 

I had several brands and not one lasted me more than 1.5 years - usually write off or just sell for parts.

 

Four years ago I bought the top of the line Dell XPS and still use it now. There were some hickups but all you need is to call Dell support and the next business day someone rings on your door to fix it - anywhere in the world.

[elfpattaya]

46 minutes ago, NutsMango said:

Dell support and the next business day someone rings on your door to fix it - anywhere in the world.

Absolutely agree, I had a problem with the Graphics card on my Dell Desktop (still under warranty), contacted Dell (Bangkok) turned up next day with new card.

Brilliant service.

[Will27]

Currently have a HP AIO which has been quite good.

 

For laptops however, Dell is my choice.

Have have a 17 inch which hasn't missed a beat in over 10 years.

 

 

[kbb]

My only advice -- Spend the $$ and get an HDD. 

The speed is wonderful. 

I have one on my Apple & it's absolutely worth every penny. 

 

 

[BwindiBoy]

I used to have work laptops and our company used Dell.  All of them were excellent, robust and provided great performance.  I had one problem with a key coming off once, which required the whole keyboard to be replaced, but that was a very small laptop that I believe they discontinued.

 

This laptop I'm using now is a Toshiba and has been on its last legs for months - it's only two years old.  The power input has had to be replaced twice, and the hinge has near enough sheered off - it's only really the cable into the screen that's keeping it from falling apart completely.  I cannot close the screen, as it's too delicate.

 

I will definitely be buying a Dell next - far better made, in my opinion.  No wonder they are still the choice of the company I used to work for.

 

[TGIR]

I would get one from InvadeIT.   They will custom build it and you'll have service from the people who put it together. I have an HP Ultrabook which has had some problems lately and it has been very difficult to find anyone who  knows how to fix it.  If my wife wasn't around to translate for me I'd have already had to buy a new one.  The owner of InvadeIT I'm pretty sure is still the Swedish guy from years ago.  Worth checking out anyway.

[captainhornblower]

47 minutes ago, kbb said:

My only advice -- Spend the $$ and get an HDD. 

The speed is wonderful. 

I have one on my Apple & it's absolutely worth every penny. 

 

 

 

Surely you mean an SSD not HDD - HDD is fairly standard but has moving parts and generates heat. SSD is Solid State (as in SSD) so is much faster than HDD and genereates no heat as nothing moves. It is how Kindles operate.

 

The down side of SSD is that it is much more expensive per GB as the production levels are so much lower.

 

 

[kbb]

Sorry - I meant SSD ... 

[NoshowJones]

Am I better to buy online? I have always avoided this as buying from a shop, you can always go back and get anything fixed under the warranty. 

I don't fancy all the hassle of having to post it back and wait for ages to have it returned.

[NoshowJones]

13 hours ago, tutsiwarrior said:

I bought a lenovo 'ideapad 700', i7, 8GB RAM, 1 terabyte, 15.5 inch screen about 15mos ago from InvadeIT and I'm I'm happy with it...Win10 Home was extra and with Office 2017 Home and Student around 33k baht...pedestrian usage, no games, etc...clunks right along...

 

I had an ASUS (purchased in saudi) before that and too many keyboard related probs...earlier I had an Acer (Vietnam) that gave good service for about 4 years even in harsh construction site office conditions, and it was cheap too...

 

 

I had same problem with Asus, that's why I won't buy another.

[NoshowJones]

13 hours ago, jenny2017 said:

God, please buy a DELL> Comes with a great warranty and it's best material and quality. 

 

    Are you sure that it's not MS Office version 2016? 

Office version not a priority for me, but I may be interested in gaming if I can find out more about it.

The Dell sounds good, maybe go for that.

[NoshowJones]

12 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, with lots of laptops it is just branding, they all have identical common components hardrives, ram, video chips, ethernet and wifi etc. (open a dell and its probably got a Toshiba HD).  The same factory in China makes dell motherboards one week and Acer motherboards the next. All the name brands with a good warranty should be fine. The component and build quality is usually reflected in the price, dell or Toshiba cost more than acer etc because better components/specifications.

 

Laptops run Hot, its a lot of heat producing components in a compact space. A lot of the components are running at the top end of their specifications (processors and video) and eventually most laptops fail because of heat. I would avoid any of the 5mm thick designs, its more heat in a smaller space. Also avoid people who dont make laptops, LG, Sony etc , they are usually just re-branding a generic product.

Good advice. I will take it on board.

[xylophone]

9 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Am I better to buy online? I have always avoided this as buying from a shop, you can always go back and get anything fixed under the warranty. 

I don't fancy all the hassle of having to post it back and wait for ages to have it returned.

Buy locally IMO...........bought one from Banana IT here and the hard drive failed in 2 days!!!

 

Took it back to the shop, they inspected it, sent it back and gave me a new one!! Can't beat that for service.

 

PS. Had a Dell for a few years and would buy again......still being used by my daughter and it is 10 yrs old.

Edited April 16, 2018 by xylophone

[NoshowJones]

7 hours ago, NutsMango said:

So what? Most of the CPU, memory etc used in phones are the same as well, but there are massive difference between final products. The design, quality control, used materials and service etc.

 

I had several brands and not one lasted me more than 1.5 years - usually write off or just sell for parts.

 

Four years ago I bought the top of the line Dell XPS and still use it now. There were some hickups but all you need is to call Dell support and the next business day someone rings on your door to fix it - anywhere in the world.

That warranty sure sways it a bit for me. Thanks.

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, Will27 said:

Currently have a HP AIO which has been quite good.

 

For laptops however, Dell is my choice.

Have have a 17 inch which hasn't missed a beat in over 10 years.

 

 

That really sounds good.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, BwindiBoy said:

I used to have work laptops and our company used Dell.  All of them were excellent, robust and provided great performance.  I had one problem with a key coming off once, which required the whole keyboard to be replaced, but that was a very small laptop that I believe they discontinued.

 

This laptop I'm using now is a Toshiba and has been on its last legs for months - it's only two years old.  The power input has had to be replaced twice, and the hinge has near enough sheered off - it's only really the cable into the screen that's keeping it from falling apart completely.  I cannot close the screen, as it's too delicate.

 

I will definitely be buying a Dell next - far better made, in my opinion.  No wonder they are still the choice of the company I used to work for.

 

Yes. I think it will be Dell for me.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Get a Mac, you won't regret it. More expensive but pays for itself in longevity, durability and reliability. After fifteen years of going round in circles with Microsoft the last four, problem-free years with Mac have been a dream. Treat yourself. 

[robblok]

13 minutes ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

Get a Mac, you won't regret it. More expensive but pays for itself in longevity, durability and reliability. After fifteen years of going round in circles with Microsoft the last four, problem-free years with Mac have been a dream. Treat yourself. 

I got a Mac book pro.. hated it put windows on it and loved it. Not everyone loves Mac.

 

Since windows 10 lots of things have improved.. never have a problem with windows.. as long as you got a legal one.

Edited April 16, 2018 by robblok

[masuk]

7 hours ago, elfpattaya said:

Absolutely agree, I had a problem with the Graphics card on my Dell Desktop (still under warranty), contacted Dell (Bangkok) turned up next day with new card.

Brilliant service.

Where can I see DELL products in Chiang Mai?

[davhend25]

31 minutes ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

Get a Mac, you won't regret it. More expensive but pays for itself in longevity, durability and reliability. After fifteen years of going round in circles with Microsoft the last four, problem-free years with Mac have been a dream. Treat yourself. 

Another vote for Mac; bought a MacBook Air 6 years ago (base model)...been around the world with it. Dropped on concrete a couple of times (in soft case) dropped on carpeted floor 3 or 4 times. And has never needed service of any kind. You just power it up and it runs..it just works. And remains fast just like the day you bought it. Had been a PC/Windows person for most of my adult life, but after this Mac there is no going back! 

[Dario]

A little over a month ago I was in the same shoes as you are now. Of course, Apple is a favorite for many, but when I now look at the cheapest MacBoook Air, it cost  35'000 Baht and the machine is under "specd". I would get an SSD with only 128 GB, only 8 MB Ram with a 13.3" size screen.

I looked at Amazon.com and found: the newest 2018 HP Pavilion 15.6" with 12 MB Ram and a 1TB SATA, but of course, the 1TB SATA won't mach an SSD, so I changed the SATA for the best available 512GB SSD.

Well, I ordered and paid the HP laptop mentioned on Monday March 5 at about 12:000 Thai time and it arrived customs cleared here out in the deep Isaan 4 days later on Friday March 9 at 13:00. Not bad, huh?! The whole thing cost me less than 24'000 Baht paid with a Thai credit card. The Samsung 850 PRO (512 GB) cost me 8'690 Baht.

The whole cost me less than 33'000 THB. In my humble meaning a pretty good deal for the money spent.

Edited April 16, 2018 by Dario

[canopus1969]

Agree only Dell, but suggest the Latitude range if you want them last (many) years.

 

They are the 'business' range and Dell keeps spares and will service for a minimum of 5 years

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Buy locally IMO...........bought one from Banana IT here and the hard drive failed in 2 days!!!

 

Took it back to the shop, they inspected it, sent it back and gave me a new one!! Can't beat that for service.

 

PS. Had a Dell for a few years and would buy again......still being used by my daughter and it is 10 yrs old.

I bought my present laptop from Banana, a small HP with an attached lid, which I am very happy with, at Fortune Town, but now want a bigger screen, but small enough to fit under the seat of my Forza. I am now looking at a Dell.

Edited April 16, 2018 by possum1931

[toolpush]

Once you go Mac, you never go back

[NutsMango]

19 minutes ago, toolpush said:

Once you go Mac, you never go back

I used pretty much every product from Apple (phone, ipad, ipod, desktop) - just once because I hated that piece of shit